Behind the Books: Lawyers & Publishing

Posted on September 7, 2026 in INTO, North

The term “publishing” conjures many images – an editor huddled at their desk screening for mistakes in a manuscript; a marketing director trotting to a meeting with an outline of a hopefully successful campaign. You wouldnʼt be to blame if you were to imagine a rights assistant filled with anticipation for the next book fair – travelling to some beautiful land, far, far away (but more likely London Kingʼs Cross).

Less visible are the lawyers, working with publishers to help them navigate the pits of copyright, contracts, intellectual property and the increasingly complex legal landscape of digital publishing.

After more than three decades advising academic publishers and others across the industry, one experienced lawyer has agreed to discuss with us what his career has entailed and the challenges he has faced along the way.

Finding a Home in Publishing Law

Chris Shelleyʼs interest in intellectual property began during his legal training in London in the 1980s, when intellectual property was still a relatively specialised area of legal practice. The introduction of the Copyright Act in 1988 coincided with the beginning of his career, and he became particularly interested in copyright, trademarks and patents.

He later moved to Oxford, where intellectual property work increasingly brought him into contact with publishers. Just as it is now, Oxford was an important centre for academic publishing, with numerous publishers based in the city. From there, he built a career advising those very publishers and authors.

Why are Lawyers so Important?

Publishing as an industry is one fundamentally built around rights; every book, journal, digital publication, and website involves a complicated web of copyright, contractual and trademark considerations. A seemingly straightforward question might have significant implications: Do they have the right to publish a particular work? What rights have been granted by the author? Can those be transferred to another publisher? Get one of those wrong, and you will find yourself in a pickle, with someone taking legal action against you. Not the ideal outcome.

“There are quite a lot of complicated issues,” Shelley says. “A lot of it is based on questions of intellectual property, but also interpretation of contracts.”

Despite any preconceptions you might have, it is not only when disputes arise that lawyers get involved. Their role is primarily to help publishers negotiate contracts, understand the rights they have acquired and identify potential problems before they become costly.

Buying and Selling Publishing Lists

What particularly stands out is lawyers’ role in advising publishers on the acquisition and sale of publishing lists. Rather than commissioning entirely new works, a publisher can expand their business by acquiring an existing list of titles from another publisher. But this can be more complicated than purchasing a collection of books and calling it a day. What is being acquired may include hundreds of individual contracts with authors covering books that have already been published, backlist titles, and manuscripts that have yet to be completed.

One of the biggest challenges is figuring out whether author contracts can legally be transferred to the new publisher when a sale takes place – something that can be surprisingly tricky, especially with older contracts. A lawyer working in publishing, acting for the publishing house hoping to buy the list, must therefore review the contracts and identify which ones can be transferred
without issue and which may require the authorʼs consent.

Assessing where the significant risks lie during the sale process, and advising publishers on how to manage them are key parts of the job. Once those risks are identified, the transaction can be structured to protect the buyer by limiting potential liability. This combination of detective work and ensuring contractual protection, is one way lawyers help publishing transactions proceed smoothly.

A Changing Publishing Landscape

During our conversation, we discussed how the publishing industry has changed during Chrisʼ career. One major development- whose importance we cannot overstate, has been the growth of digital and online publishing. In many acquisitions today, particularly in academic publishing – Chrisʼ area of speciality – the online product can be as important as, or more important than,
the physical books themselves.

The legal teams supporting publishers have changed too, something which might come as a surprise. Large publishing houses now commonly have large in-house legal departments, whereas the organisations Chris worked with earlier in his career often had much smaller teams, if any. As a result, external lawyers work alongside in-house legal teams, providing specialist advice on complex transactions and intellectual property questions whilst publishers’ internal lawyers handle much of the day-to-day legal work.

Perhaps the most significant new legal challenge facing academic publishers is artificial intelligence. AI companies’ use of published material to train models has raised difficult questions around copyright and the extent to which publishers can control how their content is used. Because the legal position is still developing at different paces across the globe, this issue is particularly challenging for publishers operating internationally.

Supporting a Sustainable Industry

Legal work can sometimes be associated with disputes and litigation, but much of the work supporting publishers takes place long before a dispute arises. For publishing businesses, effective legal advice can make acquisitions and other transactions more efficient, helping organisations understand their rights and manage risks. In this sense, the legal profession forms an important part of the infrastructure that allows the publishing industry to function, often without readers ever knowing the work has taken place.

Key Takeaways

Having now retired, Chris Shelley leaves behind a career spanning major changes in publishing, from the development of modern copyright practice to the rise of digital publishing and the emerging challenges presented by AI. His experience reminds us that a much wider community of professionals supports the publishing industry than the reader might first imagine, and that behind every publication, considerable legal expertise helps make it possible.

Written by Martyna Smolinska